Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent

Whitney family The Whitney family is a prominent American family descended from non-Norman English immigrant John Whitney (1592–1673), who left London in 1635 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. The historic family mansion in Watertown, known as The Elm ...

. She was both an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

winner, as well as a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nominee. Straight made her Broadway debut in ''The Possessed'' (1939). Her other Broadway roles included Viola in '' Twelfth Night'' (1941), Catherine Sloper in '' The Heiress'' (1947) and Lady Macduff in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' (1948). For her role as Elizabeth Proctor in the production of ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'' (1953), she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. For the satirical film '' Network'' (1976), she won the

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performanc ...

. Her performance is the shortest ever to win an Academy Award for acting (at five minutes and two seconds of screen time). She also received an

nomination for the miniseries '' The Dain Curse'' (1978). Straight also appeared as Mother Christophe in '' The Nun's Story'' (1959) and Dr. Martha Lesh in ''

Poltergeist In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...

'' (1982).

Early life

Beatrice Whitney Straight was born in Old Westbury, New York, the daughter of Dorothy Payne Whitney of the

, and Willard Dickerman Straight, an investment banker, diplomat, and career U.S. Army officer. Her maternal grandfather was political leader and financier William Collins Whitney. In 1918, when Straight was four years old, her father died in France of influenza during the great epidemic while serving with the United States Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Following her mother's remarriage to British agronomist Leonard K. Elmhirst in 1925, the family moved to

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It was there that Straight was educated at Dartington Hall and began acting in amateur theater productions. In the 1930s, she attended the Cornish School in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

where many of her teachers at Dartington Hall were from and to which both she and her mother became major benefactors.

Career

Straight returned to the United States and made her Broadway debut in the play ''The Possessed'' (1939). Most of her theater work was in the classics, including '' Twelfth Night'' (1941), ''

'' (1948) and ''

'' (1953), for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. From its inception, Straight was a member of the Actors Studio, attending the class conducted three times weekly by founding member Robert Lewis; her classmates included

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

, Montgomery Clift, Jerome Robbins,

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

, and about twenty others. Straight was active in the early days of television, appearing in

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

such as ''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The United States Steel Ho ...

'', ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

'', '' Kraft Television Theatre'', '' Studio One'', ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

'', '' The United States Steel Hour'', ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

'', and dramatic series such as '' Dr. Kildare'', '' Ben Casey'', '' The Defenders'', '' Route 66'', '' Mission: Impossible'' and '' St. Elsewhere''. Further television performances included the likes of turns in ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'', as well as her role as Hippolyta in the ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' series. Straight worked infrequently in film and is perhaps remembered best for her role as a devastated wife confronting husband William Holden's infidelity in '' Network'' (1976). Despite her character only appearing briefly onscreen, Straight was highly praised for her performance, earning the

. Another widely seen film appearance was the role of the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

investigator Dr. Martha Lesh in the horror film ''

'' (1982).

Personal life

On February 22, 1942, Straight married Louis Dolivet, Free French Leader, in

Polk County, Iowa Polk County is located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 492,401. making it the List of counties in Iowa, most populous county in Iowa, and was estimated to be 505,255 in 2023. It is ...

. At the time, Dolivet was a speaker at the National Farm Institute and Straight was in the middle of the

midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

road show of '' Twelfth Night''. Her mother Dorothy Elmhirst and stepfather Leonard K. Elmhirst attended the wedding with her brother Michael Straight and his wife Belinda Crompton. Dolivet was in the French Air Force until June 1940 and was the co-editor of '' The Free World'', a magazine published by the International Free World Association, of which he was secretary general. At the time of the wedding, her elder brother, Whitney Straight, had been missing since August 1941, when his plane was shot down on the French coast. Straight obtained a divorce from Dolivet in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, on May 24, 1949. Together, the couple had one child: * Willard Whitney Straight Dolivet (1945–1952) In 1948, while starring in the Broadway production of '' The Heiress'', an adaptation of Henry James's '' Washington Square'', she met Peter Cookson. They married in 1949 and remained married until Cookson's death in 1990. Peter had two children from his previous marriage, Peter W. Cookson Jr. and Jane Coopland (née Cookson). Together, Straight and Cookson had two children: * Gary Cookson * Anthony "Tony" Cookson In 1952, her seven-year-old son, Willard, from her first marriage, accidentally drowned in a pond on their farm in

Armonk, New York Armonk is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of North Castle, New York, North Castle, located in Westchester County, New York, United States. The corporate headquar ...

, while playing in a small rowboat tied to the dock. The boy was found by Cookson. The boy's father, Dolivet, who was living in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the time, was refused a visa and, therefore, unable to fly to the United States to attend the funeral because of his alleged pro-

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activities, which he denied. Straight reportedly had

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in her last years. In 2001, she died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in Northridge, Los Angeles, at the age of 86.

Filmography

Film

Television

Selected theatre credits

Broadway

Off-Broadway

Other stage credits

Selected radio credits

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * *
Beatrice Straight papers, 1922-1987
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts {{DEFAULTSORT:Straight, Beatrice 1914 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century people from California 20th-century people from New York (state) Actors Studio alumni Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from Manhattan American expatriates in England American film actresses American Shakespearean actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Cornish College of the Arts alumni Deaths from pneumonia in California Method actors Off-Broadway People from Armonk, New York People from Old Westbury, New York People with Alzheimer's disease Tony Award winners Whitney family